KISSIMMEE — Mounting pressure from developers eager to build along the city's lakefront has spurred planning officials to take the first step toward trying to control future growth in the downtown area.

Without a detailed plan to guide development, the city could end up with a hodge-podge that could ruin the village-type atmosphere of the downtown, said officials.

''We need to take an overall approach and not do it piece-meal,'' he said. With the right kind of development mix, downtown merchants would feel a ripple effect, creating a new spark for the old business corridor, Foltz said. ''It should be a two-way approach,'' he said.

But city planners must deal with traffic and parking problems that will result from increased growth on the lakefront, Foltz said. Traffic from the heavily traveled roads -- Broadway and Lakeshore Boulevard -- would have to be diverted to other connector streets, he said.

Developer interest in the lakefront area has increased in the last few months, partly because of the city's approval of the Waterside Villas condominium project, despite concerns about the quality of the development. The 40-unit project will overlook the Mickler park property.

''The lakefront has a lot of value. The demand for development will grow because of the geographical location,'' Foltz said.

Presently, the area is zoned mainly for low-density, single-family homes, but more multifamily and commercial projects are looking at the neighborhood because of the high land values, Foltz said.

Earlier this week, Foltz asked planning board members for feedback on downtown development.

''It's very, very preliminary,'' he said. ''I want to see what direction the board wants to go.''

A citizen's group, the Lakefront Advisory Board, already has drafted a plan for the public areas under its jurisdiction.

City officials may consider expanding the board's authority to include the entire lake basin to insure more uniform devlopment, Foltz said.

The cost for a detailed development study may be too prohibitive for the city to undertake alone, Foltz said.

Officials are trying to find out if the American Institute of Architects will send a team of architects to help draft a land-use plan and design concept.

Under that program, the requesting city normally pays for the travel and lodging expenses for the experts, Foltz said.